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Infant feeding

Get advice and support with infant feeding from other users here.

Original poster

local anesthetic when bf

21 replies

rosielum · 03/12/2011 07:44

Hi, I went to the dentist on thursday for a filling but the dentist said as i was bf he wouldn't do it as you would need 24hrs for the anesthetic to leave your system. i've looked on kelly mom and it says its fine there, have others had it while bf (i don't mean literally feeding baby while having anesthetic!). Also the tooth has now become toothache, any ideas which pain relief is ok to take? Thanks x

OP posts:
HotGiggity · 03/12/2011 07:45

You can take ibuprofen and paracetamol. You can also have the anesthic as I did when I had my fillings.

Original poster
rosielum · 03/12/2011 08:00

thanks for that. How funny that the dentist said he'd wished he'd called me in the morning so i could have expressed enough for the next 24hrs! aside from the fact that my DD has never had abottle, I'd have need to start expressing when she was born (5mths ago) to have enough milk for 24hrs. I think he thought i could turn it on like a tap!

OP posts:
Finallygotaroundtoit · 03/12/2011 08:16

Ask dentist how come women can be put to sleep for a c/section and still bf a brand new baby?

Or have lots of local anaesthetic for stiches and still bf a brand new baby?

Yet you can't do the same and bf an older baby? Sheesh

MigGril · 03/12/2011 14:37

I had a filling not to long ago while still feeding DS. No problem at all. I've also had gerenral anaesthertic before while I was feeding 10month old DD not problem then either.

Try re-educating your dentist.

pooka · 03/12/2011 14:39

Well if you can have a general anaesthetic and still breast feed........

He's nuts! I had a number of local injections and day surgery when dd was 7 months old. Had the local because the surgeon said I couldn't have a general and breastfeed. Which turned out to be bollocks.

How come so many HCPs are so clueless?

BikeRunSki · 03/12/2011 14:42

I had a GA for emcs and breast fed my baby a couple of hours later, then another GA 2 days later. I had to expresss enough for the mws to syringe feed her whilst I was actually unconsious, but no probs otherwise.

tiktok · 03/12/2011 14:53

The clue is in the name - local anaesthetic. It is not systemic. It does not get anywhere near the milk.

And yes indeed - GA is normally fine as well. If it's out of your system sufficiently to enable you to be conscious, it is normally out of your milk.

OPeaches · 03/12/2011 16:55

I had a filling yesterday and my dentist didn't ask about bf-ing even though I had DD with me. Your dentist is clearly nuts.

TruthSweet · 03/12/2011 17:12

If there is enough LA in your bm to cause issues to baby then surely your breasts would be anaesthetised too??

Plus, isn't anaesthetic injected not administered by tablet so it may not even be able to be absorbed by the stomach....

camdancer · 03/12/2011 17:20

My dad is a dentist and doesn't like giving local anaesthetic to breastfeeders because it can make the milk taste yucky for a while. No other reason AFAIK.

tiktok · 03/12/2011 17:43

I think your dad is wrong, camdancer - if the anaesthetic doesn't reach the milk (and it doesn't) how could it affect the taste?

mousysantamouse · 03/12/2011 17:51

local anasthetic is fine when bf. baby can get a bit hyper, though as a side effect. I whish medical professionals would read up properly. most medicines are absolutely fine when bf.
lidocaine is fine according to kellymom

tiktok · 03/12/2011 18:02

But mousey, how can the baby get ''hyper' as a side effect if the local anaesthetic does not reach the milk? And even if it did, how would it affect the baby in that way?

mousysantamouse · 03/12/2011 18:52

the suregon explained to me that the lidocaine was mixed with caffeine (different country) to stimulate healing. maybe that is why dd was up all night afterwards.

tiktok · 03/12/2011 22:57

ok - I understand that caffeine is something that easily gets into the circulatory system so I suppose from there a minuscule amount might reach the mik.

GlaikitFizzEggNog · 03/12/2011 23:03

The dentist may not be able to administer the local to bfing mums. I was called in for an mmr when feeding ds. the nurse wasn't allowed to give me the jab, but my gp was. something to do with insurance or liability.

MonaPomona · 03/12/2011 23:04

I had 2 fillings in the 2 weeks after my ds2 was born (in Sept this year); obv I had injections for both, and for one I had 2 injections because it was so deep. The dentist specifically said, the anesthetic is fine for bfing mums. and ds2 is absolutely fine.

camdancer · 04/12/2011 02:33

My Dad may well be wrong. It was something that a patient had reported after a series of treatments that needed local each time. Apparently the baby had gone off the milk for a few hours after each treatment. The context of our discussion was that I needed some treatment that wasn't urgent and I was having some feeding issues so my Dad just said it wasn't worth risking it when I could wait.

NotQuiteCockney · 04/12/2011 08:03

Please, show your dentist this. It's written by a pharmacist and says the anaesthetic is perfectly safe while breastfeeding.

mousysantamouse · 04/12/2011 09:12

what a brilliant leaflet!

NotQuiteCockney · 04/12/2011 09:15

The BfN have a pharmacist who writes leaflets on all the usual drugs, written in medically-appropriate language. It's a great first place to look for drug info. (Kellymom is good too - but very US-based.)

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